SHEBOYGAN – From dog yoga to kickboxing to Zumba, Rage Fitness, 3321 S. Business Drive, is the “Island of Misfit Toys” for fitness, owner Todd Arnoldi said.

“We want to have enough fitness here that anybody that feels they don't fit in anywhere else has a home,” he said.

Rage Fitness also offers class workouts, fitness classes with dogs, and green turf and black mat equipment.

Ruth Wilsing, who sticks mostly to the Rage Fitness workout classes, switched from a local gym because she said Rage Fitness offers a larger variety of workouts and more class times, has a larger space and is personalized to her abilities.

“It's all put together for me, which I think a lot of people struggle with,” Wilsing said. “You can go to the gym and do a workout, but you don't really know if you worked out. I think for a lot of us there, having the workout put together and knowing we're working our bodies properly — that's huge for me.”

“We're just trying to give everybody exactly what they need,” Arnoldi said.

The gym also partners with other fitness groups like Kick-It Kickboxing and hosts Strongman and MMA fighters.

“The crossover has just been phenomenal,” Arnoldi said. “That's probably been one of the greatest things and, as we grow forward, that's one of the things I'm looking forward to the most is so many people don't realize what they can do or if they want to until they're given a shot.”

Social media ‘saved’ Rage Fitness in its early days and during pandemic

Arnoldi's journey to fitness began at the end of his 15-year career of installing medical equipment, where he averaged 300 days a year on the road.

“By the time I came off the road, I was inspired by my father passing to leave that," Arnoldi said. "I wanted to change. I wanted to come home, I wanted to reroute, but I was 450 pounds.”

Encouraged by his best friend’s wife, he started going to the gym, where he lost 200 pounds.

Arnoldi also won an international competition for losing 75 pounds in 12 weeks and was asked during a podcast interview if he had ever considered coaching.

“I started laughing because I specialized in medical equipment," he said. "But at the same time, I was also starting to volunteer. I'd felt a call to serve because I felt that I served myself for so long, so I thought, 'What the hell. Let's give it a shot.'”

In 2017, Arnoldi became a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and worked at Fit Body Boot Camp for two years.

Feeling he could do more for the community without being part of a franchise, he opened Rage Fitness with a business partner in 2019.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Arnoldi's partner decided to leave the gym.

“I got a call from him, and he said, ‘I can't do this anymore. I just had a child,’ and I didn't know what to do,” Arnoldi said. “I also knew I wasn't going to give up on my dream at that point.”

At his first crossroad with Rage Fitness, Arnoldi joined the Meta Boost Leaders Network, a Facebook network for small business owners across the country. There, he said he learned about different grant opportunities and heard other business owners’ challenges and successes. He also shared his experiences as a small business owner and BLN member with government representatives like Sen. Ron Johnson.

Still, Arnoldi said he “wasn’t out of the woods” because he needed to adapt to ongoing ramifications from COVID-19.

He found himself at another crossroad.

“I either needed to walk away from the gym and start supporting things at home the way I told my wife I would, or I needed to find a way to make it work here again,” he said.

As a BLN small business finalist, he was flown out to Washington, D.C., to talk with other small business owners and government representatives like Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

“It may have saved — and it's almost scary to say — but social media may have saved my business a second time,” Arnoldi said.

At the same time, he met his new business partner, Chris Flores. When he got back from D.C., Arnoldi said he was refreshed.

Social media has been the “greatest tool” for Arnoldi because he’s able get Rage Fitness’s name out there and use business analytics to see how people are engaging with social media pages.

“A small business owner, if they don't realize how much they can use social media to help them move forward and get their word out there, they're losing a lot of potential customers,” he said.

Building the ‘community strong’

Arnoldi said Rage Fitness is about preparing people to do something outside the gym in the community.

Rage Fitness members have supported numerous organizations, like the Salvation Army, Sheboygan County Food Bank, Sheboygan County Humane Society, Boots on the Ground, Safe Harbor of Sheboygan County and the Sheboygan Falls Dance Team, with donations and volunteering.

Wilsing said she’s big on volunteering. In addition to volunteering at the Salvation Army and the Sheboygan County Rotary Clubs' “Making Spirits Bright,” she has also donated to hygiene product drives and donations to families in need through Rage Fitness.

“... Anything I can support the community and the gym with at the same time, I'm all for helping them,” she said.

Arnoldi grew up on a local farm, where it was always “about one guy helping out the next guy.”

“When the neighbors' cows were out, we were the ones in the middle of night getting up and helping, and that was the best time in my life,” Arnoldi said. “And if we can operate a business that way, like we did then, it's going to be a lot nicer place. It's going to be a better community to live in.”

With the possibility to add more fitness partnerships, continue community engagement and move into a larger space, Arnoldi said the vision for Rage Fitness is “unending” right now.

“This is going to be the place where they're going to be comfortable. It's never going to be about them leaving here. It's going to be about them wanting to do something out there,” he said. “... Let’s build that community strong.”

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Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @alexx_garner. 

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan gym Rage Fitness was saved by social media during COVID-19